For nearly a quarter century during the Cold War, the United States and several European nations treated the ocean floor as a solution to a problem they could not solve on land — depositing tens of thousands of containers of radioactive waste into Pacific and Atlantic waters with the confidence of an era that trusted distance as a form of safety. The drums did not disappear; they scattered, settled, and waited. Banned in 1993, the practice left behind a legacy that surveys are only now beginning to measure, raising questions that the sea has held in silence for more than fifty years.
U.S. Dumped 47,800 Radioactive Waste Containers in Pacific, Many Off-Target
Potential long-term health risks to marine ecosystems and fishing communities dependent on Pacific and Atlantic waters, though direct casualties not specified in source.